Of Thunderstorms and Elemental Chakra
by Nottoca
Summary: The interaction between Mother Nature and elemental chakra cause unanticipated difficulties during Team 7’s latest escort mission and that’s on top of the difficulties with the escortees and the growing feelings between two team members. KakaSaku. Lemon.
1. Chapter 1

_This is set in my own little world where Sasuke came back and turned into a halfway decent guy. Obviously this would have had to break off from Kishimoto's plotline quite some time ago.

* * *

_

When Sakura was a little child she was scared to death of thunderstorms. The brilliant flash of light followed by the deafening crash of thunder always sent her scurrying for the safety of her parent's bed.

By age twelve Sakura was no longer afraid of thunderstorms; they were more of an annoyance to her. The thunder and lightening would still startle her now and then and she really disliked being awoken by them, but it was the rain that came with the thunder and lightning that bothered her more. By that time, she had started going on short but overnight missions away from home and that meant sometimes sleeping outside and outside was where the rain could make a tough mission even more difficult, not to mention completely miserable. She really disliked traveling in the rain, the trickles of water dripping under her cloak making her clothes all damp and uncomfortable, the way she couldn't escape from the mud and how there was no way to ever get completely dry.

There were good parts to the storms as well, but she enjoyed them most when she in close proximity to a nice, warm and dry place to return to and sleep at night. Meaning she liked it when she was either in the leaf village or could put up for the night in a hotel. She loved the way the whole village looked and smelled after a good clean rain, and she really loved staying at home on a rainy day and reading; someplace where she was warm and dry, of course.

And now at the age of twenty-two, she was at the stage of active dislike. It wasn't hatred and it wasn't fear but it was a touch more than just an annoyance. Now she was used to traveling while wet and sleeping in the rain. There was definitely some sense of annoyance left, but it was no longer really aimed at the weather, it was reserved for her teammates.

Her teammates were her biggest challenge for every mission. Forget the enemy, forget healing wounds and saving lives, forget any person or group out to kill them, it was her teammates that were the root of almost all of her frustration. She wasn't sure if it was because they were male or because they were extremely dedicated shinobi with mission success as the only thing on their minds but they all managed to piss her off every single mission. Some timesSometimes she wondered if they did it intentionally. She already knew Sasuke did because that was just the sort of person he was and he enjoyed seeing her mad. Naruto was generally obnoxious but usually not intentionally and had been improving as they'd gotten older. And Kakashi… well, he'd seemed to have made teasing her a bit of his hobby in the past few years, seeing just how far he could push her before she'd snap and punch something. Or someone.

Right now, on their current mission, she _should_ be asleep, curled up nice and warm in her sleeping bag not even noticing the thunder, lightning or the heavy drops of rain falling on the taut surface of their canvas shelter. But no, she was wide awake and unable to fall back asleep because of her teammates. Specifically, the two moronic ones who wouldn't come in out of the rain because of their type of elemental chakra. There was apparently something about the ability to manipulate the lightening elemental chakra that made two adult men feel the need to stand outside in the rain and watch the sky every time there was a thunderstorm, even in torrential, bitterly cold rains. And they would never wear their cloaks, preferring to 'feel the electricity in the air,' something they both tried to explain while looking at her as if she was a complete idiot for not instantly understanding and feeling it herself.

As a medic it was her responsibility to keep her teammates in their best fighting condition and there was no way a ninja could be the slightest bit threatening (or effective) when sneezing and wiping their nose with Kleenex during a hand to hand fight. And calling out death threats in a hoarse whisper and a hacking cough didn't exactly strike fear in the heart of your opponents either. Besides, they were whiney enough when sick at home in the village much less on a mission.

But they were also her family, they were her boys and ultimately, if they got sick, she'd be the one who'd care for them. Well, except Naruto who had Hinata to look after him, but right now, he was the only other team member who was actually under the shelter. For once, she found Naruto to be the smartest of the bunch.

In all honesty, she liked going on missions with them, usually. She also enjoyed it when Sai and Yamato were with them as well, but there was something special about going on a mission with just their original 4-man team that made her feel happy. The old team 7.

At least made her feel happy until they pulled some stupid stunt like this.

With a resigned sigh, Sakura slipped from of the warmth of her sleeping bag and pulled on her shoes. She could hear Naruto snoring which meant nothing less than a kick to the head would wake him so he would remain safely out of the rain. Throwing her own cloak over her shoulders, she grabbed the two bundles of heavy cloth left next to two other packs and disappeared through the flap of the shelter. The sharp cold wind and stinging rain made her tighten the fabric around her shoulders.

A flash of lightening, quickly followed by the rumble of thunder, allowed her to spot Sasuke perched up in a tree taking his turn at keeping watch. Well, one moron found. On nights with thunderstorms, Sasuke and Kakashi always volunteered to split the watch between the two of them with the excuse that because neither of them could get much sleep anyway, they might as well be on sentry duty. But now, the night was half over and Kakashi, having taken first watch, still wasn't back at the shelter.

With a single leap, Sakura landed softly on the branch and crouched next to the dark-haired man, turning her head to watch him as she spoke.

"Sasuke."

"Sakura." He acknowledged her presence, at least.

"You forgot something."

"I didn't forget anything-." He replied.

"You left your cloak in the shelter."

"I was aware of that. I don't want to wear it right now."

She sighed and reached over to turn his face toward hers, her green eyes staring deep into his black ones, another flash of lightening illuminating their faces. "Sasuke, if you don't go put on dry clothes and wear your cloak while you stand guard I will make the rest of this trip a living hell for you." She spoke in a honey coated voice that barely covered her steely tone. She would have her way no matter what and she would not be disobeyed. This was a medical issue.

"And what could you do that would make my trip miserable? Team me up with Naruto? Make us share the same sleeping space? Make him tell me all about his last date with Hinata, giving me an excruciatingly long second-by-second replay? Again?" the sarcasm practically dripped from his voice. He was extremely good at that.

She smiled sweetly to him and continued with a tone of voice that the boys often termed as 'mothering'. "With one touch I can make it impossible for you to ever have children. That could put a bit of a crimp on reviving the Uchiha clan, now wouldn't it? So, please go change into some dry clothes and wear your cloak whenever you're out in the rain."

Sasukes' eyes narrowed and she could see the Sharingan start to swirl. Averting her gaze from his dangerous eyes, her chakra-reinforced hand shot out and punched him in the stomach and knocking him backwards off the tree branch. As a skilled jounin, he hit the ground on his feet and was again crouched on the branch next to her in less than a second, not even winded in the slightest.

"And don't bother trying to use the Sharingan on me." All the sugary sweetness was now gone from her voice, leaving only the hardness of steel. She held his cloak out to him. "I'll keep watch while you go change." Her tone was that of a person who would be obeyed, telling him she was completely serious with her threat.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed but he took the cloak she offered and jumped from the tree branch. A few minutes later, he returned, his dark figure hidden by the cloak and wearing what Sakura assumed, were dry clothes.

"Thank you Sasuke." She smiled, her tone all sweetness again, pleased that it really hadn't taken much more than a threat to get him to do what she wanted. "Now, have you seen Kakashi?"

"He headed off that way." Sasuke motioned to her right. _Well, at least I'm not the only one having his night ruined, h_e thought glumly. And it wasn't like he could take off the cloak once she disappeared because he knew she would have to come back to the shelter once she found their leader, and by that time, he could tell the storm would be over. But just her threat of virtual castration was a bit too scary to tempt, especially when he thought he'd finally found the right civilian girl.

As Sakura left him, his mind strayed back to the civilian woman he'd been dating the past couple of months, a woman perfectly devoted to him and more than happy to help him with his obsession of clan revival. A woman who loved the thought of spending her life at home with their children. And that was the reason he and Sakura had never worked out romantically; if they had married, it was understood that between pregnancies and caring for children, she wouldn't have been unable to continue taking missions. Not to mention she had become a bit too strong willed for his tastes.

Sasuke sighed and watched the woman dash off in the direction he'd pointed. _Good luck, Kakashi. You're going to need it,_ he thought as a familiar smirk settled on his features.

* * *

Following chakra signatures, Sakura hurried through the forest looking for her other problem child. Out of all of her boys, Kakashi was the biggest troublemaker, the one who was most immune to her threats. Sasuke really had been easy to convince compared to what she knew Kakashi would take, she'd just had to know which buttons to press.

But Kakashi. Her former teacher. Her team leader. Her friend. The famous copy-nin. He went by so many names and could be so many different people. But the one she liked best was as her friend - his casual, sloppy, slouched, apathetic self. She'd thought a lot about him recently and found her eyes drawn to him whenever he was around. Him and those little orange books he practically worshiped. She didn't understand their appeal herself but she'd never had the courage or, until recently, the desire to examine one of them. Maybe she'd have to 'borrow' one sometime, see if she could figure out what he saw in them.

It was on their last mission together that she realized she really didn't know much about him and neither did any of her teammates. She knew he hated tempura and loved saury. He preferred silence and tended to think things over before doing anything, even though he projected an air of laziness and indifference. And he loved those little orange books; the week before a new book was published one could feel the sense of anticipation by just being in his presence.

She knew he lived simply in a small, one-room apartment that he rarely spent time in, preferring to find a nice warm place outdoors to soak up the sun while he read. The man had an uncanny ability to know what pissed her off and exactly when to stop her and what to say to defuse her when she was seconds away from killing another teammate. She knew he was a genius; a chunin at age 6 to become a jonin soon after. By rumor, she knew his father had been the White Fang of Kohona but she really didn't know why that bothered him so much. He had once been an ANBU member but had quit before becoming their teacher.

It was a little fuzzy as to why he'd become their teacher in the first place. There had been other genin teams that he'd turned away – he'd told them himself that they were the first and only ones to pass the bell test, the only ones he'd ever taught and she knew he had refused every other student since then. They had been the special case.

No, that wasn't right. The other two had been special, she had been the weak one.

Where was that damned man? Maybe he'd been hit by lightening. That would have been funny and just a tad bit ironic. Not that funny cause then she'd have to heal him and he could be such a baby about it sometimes, too. She figured that most of the time he was just doing it to tease her, to make her life more difficult merely because he could. Oddly enough, she usually played along, unlike if Sauske or Naruto pulled the same kind of stunt.

It was after their last mission together, just the two of them, that Kakashi had taken a couple long-term solo missions. This missions was one of the few times she had seen him in almost a year and a half. Yet they had easily fallen back into those comfortable silences whenever they had happened to see each other in between missions or at the bar most of the shinobis hung out at. And, when he showed up at her apartment half dead and in need of repair. She was really enjoying this mission with him, too, so far at least - except for this tugged her cloak tighter around herself and grimaced slightly as mud squished into her sandal. God she was sick of mud. How anyone could live in this part of lightning country was beyond her comprehension.

The difference in depth between the last footprints she saw and the ones that came before it had her raising her eyes to see where he had jumped to. Tipping her head back, she saw him standing on a tree branch, leaning against the trunk, his focus on the sky. The rain had plastered his uniform to his skin, revealing his well muscled form topped by his shock of silver-gray hair. She couldn't help but admire the way his clothes hugged his body.

_Down girl._

Right. She was here to force him to wear his cloak, not admire his physique.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of that hair; even wet, it still stood on end. She was a little surprised he wasn't reading an Icha Icha book, or she had been surprised until it occurred to her that if he was reading one of his precious books, it would have been ruined by the rain, thereby destroying the invaluable item.

Jumping up onto the branch next to him, she was surprised when she slipped on a patch of wet moss and he had to catch her arm to keep her from falling. She knew better than to ask how he knew she was there.

"Forget your cloak?" She asked, obviously annoyed at her own clumsiness.

"Yep."

"Liar."

"Yep." They stood in silence while she looked at him. Both eyes were visible and his unscarred one was no longer droopy, both scanning all the cracks of lightening across the sky. He turned to look at her and she found she really liked the way he looked when he was alert. Well, he was always alert, he just normally appeared partially catatonic.

"So what did you have to threaten Sasuke with to get him to wear his cloak?"

"Castration."

"Oooh. Sounds painful."

"The way I'd do it, it would be. I needed to figure out what would scare him the most."

"Well, not being able to repopulate his clan would be quite an incentive." He agreed, his eyes once again glued to the sky. "So what are you going to threaten me with?"

"Well, physical violence doesn't do much with you 'cause you know I'll fix you… eventually…"

"Soft spot for the old sensei?"

She rolled her eyes. "As if you didn't already know that. It seems I'm at your beck and call as a medic."

"And it's so sweet of you." She could practically _hear_ the grin growing on his face.

"Tsunade-shishou's orders. But I probably would have anyway."

"So… no threats?

"No, you strike me more as the carrot type."

"Carrot type?"

"The best way to get an ass to move, isn't to threaten him or hurt him, it's to bait him with a carrot. You are definitely more of the carrot type." Sakura explained.

"Are you implying I'm an ass?"

"If the mask fits…"

"Masks tend to be a one-size-fits-all type of garment."

"Then it definitely fits, now doesn't it?"

Kakashi, realizing he practically walked into that one, asked his next question. "What exactly do you think you can tempt me with?"

"Hmmm… I'm not sure yet. Any suggestions?"

Once again they stood in silence for a few moments. "I might be tempted to wear the cloak for a kiss." The smiling gaze that had been so focused on the sky was now centered on her face. He reached up and tapped his cloth covered cheek with a finger.

A bit taken aback, she could only study his eyes. He actually wanted her to give him a kiss on the cheek? That was rather simple. She had been a bit worried about what perverted things he would ask for – things that would only give her weakened mind fodder. She probably would have even kissed him quickly on the mouth as long as was wearing his mask. His bare lips would have been too much to ask.

"Promise to wear the cloak then? Even after I leave?"

He nodded. With a quick smile, she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his masked cheek, drawing back to thrust the cloak she'd been holding under her own to keep dry into his hands.

"You will come back and try to get a little sleep before we leave, right?" She asked. He nodded, his gaze already turned back to the sky. With a sigh, Sakura stayed only long enough to see him draw the cloak over his shoulders before she headed back to their shelter to try and get a couple of hours of sleep herself. Touching her lips as she ran, she realized hadn't even noticed the storm while she'd been talking with Kakashi. Maybe thunderstorms weren't that bad after all.

With the boom of the thunder, she never heard the sound of Kakashi banging his head against the tree.

TBC…

* * *

_Okay, I'm posting this in the hope that it'll spur me on with my writing. I usually prefer to have more of a story written before posting the beginning of it but I've had so much trouble with writing recently (change in one of my antidepressants) I figured I'd try posting it and hope the guilt and feeling of obligation to keep posting would keep me writing. I'm not going to try to estimate when the next portion will be up because those sorts of predictions always backfire on me. _

_Did I mention reviews might make this whole writing thing a bit easier? (Wink wink, nudge nudge)_


	2. Chapter 2

Current Day

_Yesterday_

'Thoughts to herself'

* * *

Sakura awoke to the cry of a baby. Well, it was actually the screams of a one year old child which, frankly, can be extremely close to the cry of a baby. Sakura grabbed her pillow and held it over her face with a groan. She felt like she'd only fallen asleep a few seconds ago. Her internal clock told her it had been at least two hours, probably close to three since she'd she finally slipped back into her sleeping bag once she'd finally convinced her teammates to actually wear their cloaks while out in the rain, but it sure didn't feel like it. And wearing a cloak was something she would have hoped their parents would have taught them well before they'd even become academy students.

Would no one tend to that crying child? Damn, that kid had a set of lungs. She wrapped the pillow further to cover her ears. Why the _**hell**_ wasn't the boy's father doing anything? She felt a tiny hand pull on the bottom of her sleeping bag.

Damn it. Sakura sat up tossing the pillow to the ground where her head _should_ be resting. The faintest light was shining into the tent, signaling the break of morning but the three men she was sharing the tent with all appeared completely undisturbed by the child crying at her feet. Sasuke must still be on guard but if he'd heard Yasu crying, why hadn't he come to see what was wrong?

'Because the kid is crying, meaning it wants something, probably food or a diaper change and if Sasuke acknowledges it, that means he has to do something about it.'

She hated it when that inner voice was right. And two of the men in the tent were ninjas who should have woken with just the slightest movements of another person in the tent, much less the loud cries of a child wailing at the top of his lungs.

'They're men. Just like Sasuke, they think as long as they don't acknowledge it, the problem will disappear or someone else, such as you, will take care of it.'

Naruto let out a choked snort and flopped over onto his side. Sakura was willing to bet it was an act. Naruto was usually up with the sun, especially if he'd gotten a good night's rest. She rolled her eyes and wriggled out of her sleeping bag. As she stood, Yasu stretched his arms up to her, asking with a whimper to be picked up. Sakura scooped the child up in her arms, grabbed the diaper bag in the corner and left the tent.

As soon as she was out of the shelter, Sasuke was there, watching her from a few feet away.

"What's the matter?"

"He's crying."

"I could tell that. What does he want?" Sasuke was obviously keeping his distance in case Sakura asked him to help.

"There's two possibilities. He's either hungry or he needs changed and since its first thing in the morning, it's probably both. Here," she tried handing Yasu off to Sasuke, who promptly backed away, unwilling to take the child from her hands. "Oh, fine." she grumbled, pulling the now whimpering child back against her chest. "You start a fire while I change him."

Letting the diaper bag fall from her shoulder to the ground, she knelt down and set Yasu's well padded butt on the nearest large dry rock. His wails had turned into a general fussiness that Sakura knew would disappear with a clean diaper and a little food. Looking through the bag, she found a new diaper and some baby powder. The woman who had cared for Yasu had packed everything the little boy would need for their trip, including notes on his peculiarities. She'd also thoughtfully packed half a ton of baby wipes which Sakura would be eternally grateful for. Traveling with a child was hard enough without worrying about how to keep him clean.

When they had arrived at the designated location the morning before, Jiro, who was actually the son of their client, was packed and ready to go, along with his son Yasu. Their mission was to escort Jiro, the son and heir to his father's estate to his father's home deeper into Lightning country. If only Tsunade had listed Yasu's real age in the mission scroll.

* * *

_"Is this it?" Naruto asked, landing in front of the gates of a large house. A single imposing guard came to stand at the edge of the gates, half his body hidden by a stone post. With his large form, Sakura highly doubted he was a shinobi but his bulk was probably more than enough to scare off local hoodlums._

_"I believe so. It matches the description." The others landed beside him while Sakura approached the guard. "We're looking for the house of Takahashi."_

_"And who are you?" the guard asked hostilely, one hand resting on the hilt of a katana while the other hand was held poised at the ready next to a rather new looking kunai pouch._

_"We are Konoha ninja sent to see the master of this home." Kakashi replied, supplying the letter of introduction from the daimyo._

_"Yes, we've been expecting you." The large man said, glancing only momentarily at the scroll before making to open the heavy wood and iron door. Sakura smiled softly to herself, knowing that one push with her chakra-enforced strength and the door would open easily but the man's pride would be greatly wounded. Best not to offend the guard who's territory they were currently entering, he might have unpleasant friends and if there was one thing she'd learned in her male dominated career area, best to let them think they were the stronger sex. Surprised them all the more when she threw them through a wall._

_The guard gestured to the largest building of the compound, closing the gate behind them. Naruto, ready to get the show on the road, as it were, bounded through the door with the enthusiasm of a child._

_"I suppose it's nice to know some things never change." Sakura mumbled._

_"Unfortunately." Sasuke grumbled._

_"I know. Can't you just see him at age 80, running around dragging a walker behind him because I've threatened to kill him if he doesn't use it?" Sakura giggled. She could tell Kakashi smiled softly under his mask and Sasuke almost cracked a grin at the image._

_"Wow, what a spread!" Naruto said, his hands interlaced behind his head, his elbows sticking out to the side. He spun around, admiring the formal gardens and impressive house that surpassed even those of the Hyuga clan. "What I wouldn't give to live here."_

_"Maybe you could afford it dobe, if you would stop eating so much ramen. You alone have made old man Ichiraku a rich man."_

_"Hey, no name calling in front of the client. Can't we set a good impression for once? Sakura pleaded. If there was one thing she hated, it was setting the mission off on the wrong foot._

_"Hey, I always make a good impression." Naruto bragged._

_Sasuke and Sakura rolled their eyes._

_"Just watch the name calling and try to remember you're all adults now, okay?" Kakashi said with an eye crease and Sakura noticed he even had put his precious Icha Icha book away._

_When the entire group had reached the main door, Naruto rang the bell. A polite young woman opened the door and led them through an exquisitely decorated hallway to a small reception room where a seated young man was waiting for them._

_Kneeling and bowing low, his head near the floor, Kakashi gave a greeting and quick introductions, leaving no time for the usual polite small talk. "Takahashi-sama, it is best if we leave as soon as possible. It is already after noontime but we can get a number of miles before we need to make camp for the night. If you and your father are ready, of course."_

_The young man before them smiled indulgently. "Hatake-san, I believe you are mistaken. It is my father that is the Daimyo and it's my son and I that you are escorting to my father's residence."_

_Kakashi's face betrayed no surprise, nor did Sasuke's, but Sakura's did. Actually, it was more like her displeasure. She had the vague feeling that Naruto didn't grasp the importance of that statement as he grinned away with his normal oblivious smile._

_A cold resigned feeling settled in her stomach. Tsunade-shishou had done it again. She had tricked them into accepting this mission, misleading them or at least not giving them all the available information, letting them think the two people they would be escorting would be adults. Of course, the fact they had assumed the father and son would be adults was their fault._

_Or did the others know they would be escorting a child and she was the only one who had assumed wrongly?_

_Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of the same young woman who had led them to this room, except she was carrying a small child this time. The little boy looked, to Sakura's eyes, to be about a year old. He had a shock of black hair and a happy grin and bore quite a resemblance to the man seated before them._

_"Everyone, may I introduce my son Yasu." When Naruto saw the child, one could practically see the pieces fall into place in his mind. In a display of his maturity, he no longer pointed in outrage and yelled as he reached the conclusion they'd be taking the child with them on this mission but his jaw did drop down to his chest momentarily._

_Sakura could only close her eyes and subtly shake her head.

* * *

_

_The housekeeper or nanny – what was her name… Emiko, that was it – Emiko had made sure everything Yasu could possibly need was packed and ready for him, everything and more. Sakura had vetoed the stroller, the playpen and the crib saying they could be sent for later but Kakashi had sealed the rest into a scroll using a common ninjutsu. Unfortunately, most of the weight of the original items remained, making it a heavy scroll which was delegated to Naruto and his near infinite supply of energy to carry along with the other supplies._

_Emiko had been heartbroken at Jiro and Yasu's departure, tears streamed down her face and her nose ran constantly as she kissed Yasu goodbye. She had tied Yasu to Sakura's chest with a long piece of cloth Emiko said she'd used herself when he fussed and there was work still to be done around the house. She had told Sakura earlier that she wished she'd been able to come with them. Master Jiro had requested she accompany them to care for Yasu but with her mother, her last living relative, ailing she'd been forced to refuse. She had very much wanted to go – more than everything, but her mother needed her more and there was no way her mother could make the trip in her health._

_Sakura, always the healer, asked to see Emiko's mother and while unable to do much for the woman's failing heart, she was able to give her some instructions and ingredients for some medicinal teas that might help relieve her suffering. When they returned to the compound, Emiko, with tears streaming down her face, had pressed Yasu's favorite stuffed animal into his arms and hurried away, not wanting to watch them leave._

_Sakura's heart went out to the woman. Apparently she had been the one caring for Yasu since his mother died shortly after his birth just over a year ago. It was regrettable she couldn't accompany them on their journey, but Sakura understood her familial obligation. If Sakura read the symptoms right, and she was confident she did, the woman only had a few more months to live, so perhaps Emiko could join the Takahashi family at the Daimyo's compound then._

_As unsympathetic and selfish as it was, Sakura really wished Emiko was coming with her because the thought of this several days trip with her boys and a year old child really wasn't on the list of things she wanted to do before she died. Or have it as the cause of her death. If Tsunade, who hadn't seen fit to tell them the child was only a year old, __had_ seen fit to assign the four of them to this mission, there must be a serious threat to this family or she had an ulterior motive. Knowing Tsunade as she did, it was the ulterior motive, and the way things were going, it probably involved a bet and a large amount of money.

* * *

Sasuke watched her change the boy's diaper from a good three feet away, obviously interested but apparently afraid if he came any closer he would somehow be roped into helping with the dirty work.

"Haven't you ever changed a diaper before?" Sakura asked, removing the plastic diaper cover. The Takahashi's choice of cloth diapers was made much easier with the use of a sealing scroll. All she needed to do was take off the old offending one, add it to the special scroll just for dirty diapers and feel sorry for whoever had to deal with the results when the contents was unsealed. Or maybe they'd just burn the scroll so no one would have to deal with them. Whatever, as long as she wasn't the one washing them out.

"And where would I have done that? Orochimaru wasn't fond of children that young."

"Perhaps little Asuma or Anko and Ibiki's little ones…" Sakura's thoughts trailed off as she realized he hadn't been in the village when a number of children she knew were born, and even if children were born after his return, a number of parents wouldn't have allowed the formerly missing nin anywhere near their offspring. "Well, you just watched me do it, so next time it's your turn.

* * *

_When Yasu realized Emiko wasn't coming with their group as they headed out into the rain, he let out a wail that made Sakura's ears hurt. It obviously made the other team member's ears ache as well as could be seen by their pained expressions. Even the father looked pained and Kakashi's usually indifferent expression took on a slightly strained appearance._

_Sakura gently stroked the boy's back and walked closer to Jiro so Yasu could see his father was with him. Oddly enough it seemed to offer no comfort to the boy as he struggled to escape the binds of the cloth that held him to Sakura._

_"Perhaps he would be happier if you carried him?" she suggested to Jiro._

_"No, I doubt it. He's used to being with Emiko almost constantly and I doubt my presence will do anything to reassure him."_

_Sakura sighed and made soothing noises, stroking the child's back until he eventually quieted down. Offering her a small square of cloth, Kakashi sauntered up beside her. Nodding appreciatively, Sakura carefully wiped the tears from the boy's eyes and the snot trailing down from his nose. She offered the cloth back to Kakashi who merely raised his single visible eyebrow as if to ask if she seriously thought he wanted the cloth back. Realizing her stupidity she tucked it into the wraps of fabric keeping Yasu tight against her chest._

_"Sakura, what's the likelihood of keeping him quiet during this trip?"_

_"How would I know Kakashi?" she grumbled irritably, "Keeping children quiet isn't an instinctual thing all women know."_

_"I didn't mean to imply it was. I thought as a medic, you would know. Out of all of us, professionally, I had figured you had more experience having possibly worked with children in the hospital."_

_"Oh." Sakura glanced at him ruefully. "Sorry to snap at you. A screaming child that you don't know how to keep quiet doesn't do much for the nerves."_

_"Understandable. You're not the only one."_

_"Wait a minute, you mean something was able to get through that tough outer shell of indifference projected by the copy nin?"_

_"Yes, well, it almost drove me far enough to bring out my latest Icha Icha to help me forget about the horrible sounds he could make."_

_Sakura smiled, turning to see his own happy eye-crease. "I'm rather surprised you hadn't whipped that out the minute we left the compound."_

_"I thought you wanted to start out on the right foot?"_

_"I did, but no Icha Icha? I'm impressed."_

_Kakashi changed the subject. "So your thoughts for keeping him quiet for the duration of this trip?"_

_"It wouldn't hurt to see if there was a pacifier packed in the diaper bag. That might work for general travel. It really would have been so much easier if Emiko had been able to come with. I'm sure she would be able to keep him quiet."_

_"I always have the Sharingan…"_

_"Yeah, and I know you're about as willing to use that as I am to use the sedatives I have."_

_"Ri-" Kakashi's words were cut off by the yells from the two men at the front of the group._

_"Dobe!"_

_"Teme!"_

_Sakura let out an exasperated sigh as a few blows were exchanged between the blond-haired and the black-haired man, nothing hard enough to draw blood. Turning to look at Kakashi to ask him to stop the pair, she found the man had one of his little orange books out and was reading happily. Well, he had waited until after the other two had started arguing, she rationalized._

_"I suppose I should be glad you all lasted at least half an hour longer than the last mission…" Sakura mumbled._

_"Thirty four minutes, to be exact." Kakashi replied over the top of his book._

_"Yeah, that's a whole new time record for the respectability list." She rolled her eyes and increased her pace to catch up to their client and apologize for her teammates.

* * *

_

Sakura got a new set of clothes on Yasu and sat him up on the rock next to her. He seemed a bit happier, albeit still a little fussy and ready for breakfast. Turning slightly, she packed away the unused wipes and last night's bed clothes.

Wait a minute. The diaper scroll was there, but where was the dirty diaper? She would have sworn she had set it next to the bag…

"I already sealed it in the scroll, Sakura-chan." A soft voice said in her ear. She jumped and sent an elbow backward, hoping to catch the man behind her in the stomach.

"Damn it, Kakashi." She growled. "Stop sneaking up on me!" she spun around, hands on her hips, to find her former teacher several meters away, propped against a tree, Icha Icha in hand.

"If you were more aware of your surroundings…" He replied without even bothering to look at her over the top of his book.

"What would I have you here for, besides reading porn, that is." She grumbled, turning to grab Yasu and the diaper bag. "Oh, I know. Seeing as Sasuke has disappeared again," She plopped the little boy down on Kakashi's lap between him and his book. "You get to watch Yasu while I make him breakfast."

The look on her leader's face, a sort of surprised horror that made her giggle softly. Maybe this mission wouldn't be as bad as she thought. At least it didn't _constantly_ rain in Lightning country, if she was quick enough she could trick her boys into helping care for Yasu and in the process, she'd get to see expressions like the one on Kakashi's face right now. 'Cause ones like that were priceless.

TBC…

* * *

_Okay everyone, I'm going to need some help here. I don't have kids of my own and most friends' kids are school age by now. There aren't any kids in our family and it's been a long time since I've babysat so most of my information is from the internet, books and my memory so if anything sounds wrong, please PM me or leave a review so I can correct it. I'd also like to note that I'm writing this as I go so future chapters may require some editing of previous chapters, but I'll try to note those as I go._

_And thanks to everyone for the reviews and encouragement! I can't tell you how much it helped spur me on knowing people were reading the first chapter and interested in reading more. Thanks to everyone! This was one of the more boring chapters just to fill in background information and I promise there will be more KakaSaku in upcoming chapters._

_Reviews, thoughts, suggestions?_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, I'm trying a fight scene. I suck at fight scenes which is why I've avoided them like the plague but if you have problems doing something, you need to practice it right? It makes it a bit longer than the other two chapters, just don't expect too much from it._

_And yes there will be a practice lemon later.

* * *

_

Kakashi stared at the child that had been dropped onto his lap, obscuring his Icha Icha book from his sight. The child stared solemnly back at him. Well, at least he wasn't crying. Yet.

He took a cautionary glance at Sakura and was incensed to find she was smirking. Damn that girl, she was enjoying this!

Returning his attention to the child on his lap, he dropped his Icha Icha book so he could hold the boy better. One chubby fist reached out for his mask and Kakashi had to let go to wave a finger in front of his face.

"Ah, ah, ah. The mask stays on," he said. The child looked ready to cry and Kakashi knew he needed to think of something to do to entertain him quickly before he started bawling and drew any unwanted attention from passersbys. What was it he had done with Kurenai's child? Oh yes, that was it; hopefully it wouldn't send the kid off on a crying fit.

Keeping his hands wrapped around Yasu's waist, he experimentally jostled one of his knees, sending the child bouncing up and down on it. The giggle that broke from the little boy's mouth had him grinning behind his mask and when he glanced over at Sakrua, he was surprised to find her scowling at him and the child. Now what had he done? The boy let out another delighted squeal and it hit him.

Sakura was upset that he wasn't having trouble with their youngest charge! He smirked, giving her his biggest happy-eye-crease and turning the little boy enough to waive one of his little arms at her.

"Wave to Sakrua-chan!" He said in a cheerful tone as the baby bounced and happily squealed away on his knee. Sakura just rolled her eyes and started boiling some of the water Sasuke had retrieved from a nearby stream. Kakashi could hear her grumbles from where he sat and although he couldn't make out any of the words, he was pretty sure they were directed at him and were none too flattering. God, it was such fun annoying her sometimes!

* * *

After a breakfast of the warm rice cereal Emiko had packed for Yasu, and Sakura decided to feed everyone or told them they could fix their own damn breakfast, they started out on their way again. The pace set was rather slow, at least to team 7 and Naruto was constantly getting too far ahead and having to stop and wait for the others to catch up. For Jiro, it was slightly faster than he was used to and as he tired much easier than the well-trained nins who were used to such activity, the pace had to be set for his ability. Kakashi, as team leader, kept an eye on his team's energy levels and tried to unobtrusively slow his teammates down so as not to wear their slowest member out.

Naruto had started off carrying Yasu but in a matter of hours Sakura found herself with the child strapped to her front. She didn't mind so much as after their next break she was determined to have Sasuke carry Yasu and that promised to be entertaining. Besides, he was a happy little boy and was traveling better than could have been hoped. It was about midmorning when Jiro, who had been relatively quiet while trying to keep pace with the rest of the group, struck up a conversation with her.

"So, you're a female ninja?"

"A kunoichi, yes." Sakura turned to look at the man walking next to her.

"Aren't you rather young for that?" Jiro asked.

Sakura gave him a wry smile. "I'm twenty three. That's not so young, at least, not for a ninja."

"What about Kakashi over there? Doesn't that make him rather old?" Jiro nodded his head at her team leader.

"Kakashi?" Sakura asked in surprise.

Jiro nodded his head.

"He's not that old." Sakura smiled at the thought of Kakashi, of all people, being old. Sure, his former students enjoyed teasing him about his age, but the word 'old' didn't exactly apply. The man rarely got out of breath doing things that sent men half his age to the hospital. During sparing sessions, he was often the only uninjured member of the team. "His hair has always been grey and he's not much older than you are, I'd guess."

"But I'm thirty-five." Jiro replied.

"Right, so that makes him only a couple years older than you are. Genin are usually about twelve when they're assigned their first mission."

"Twelve?" The surprise showed on the man's face. He tried to remember what he'd been doing at age twelve. Playing with his brother and sisters? Sneaking out of the compound to swim in the river?

"By that age, they've usually completed a number of years at the academy so they can pass the test to become genin, the lowest rank of ninja. There are also chounin and jounin."

"What is your rank?"

"I'm a jounin, but I'm also a medic which is my primary job."

"And the others?" The man asked.

Sakura caught Kakashi's eye and motioned to the foliage next to the path. With a nod, he silently consented to a ten minute break.

"All jounin. Here," Sakura unwrapped from the cloth binding Yasu to her and handed his son out to the man. "Would you mind holding him a bit? We're going to take a break and I need to use the bushes.

The man backed away his hands held up as if to ward the child away from him. "Ah… no. I'm not very good with the boy."

"Surely you can hold him for a minute…" Sakura protested.

"I'd rather not…"

Surprised, she raised an eyebrow. Why didn't the man want to hold his own son? Come to think of it, they'd been traveling for twenty four hours and she hadn't seen the man hold him once. Still slightly confused, she called Naruto over and handed the child to the blond man. "Hold him for a minute, will you? I've got to use the bushes."

"Sure," Naruto held his hands out to the squirming child who's face lit up at the silly expression Naruto made.

When she returned, Naruto was sitting with Yasu on a dry stretch of gravel building him a small structure with some of the larger stones around them. Once it started to take form as a little fort, the child would giggle with delight as he knocked it down. Naruto would make a good father, she decided as she watched him patiently laugh and begin to rebuild the fort. He and Hinata would be quite happy if the idiot ever got around to proposing. She really needed to say something to him about it on this mission; after all, none of them were getting any younger and Hinata was at a good age for childbirth. Besides, the woman obviously loved him as much as he did her. Maybe it was her father that was standing in the way. Hiashi had recognized Naruto as the Fourth's son once the war with Sound had ended and the news of Naruto's parentage had come out, reluctantly allowing the two to publically date.

Her eyes moved to Sasuke, who was returning from the bushes on the other side of the road. She was having trouble imagining Sasuke as a father, even if he had warmed up a little in the past few years. What kind of father would he be? It was his remaining goal – he wanted to rebuild his clan and that meant becoming a father. Imagining him cuddling with a child, changing a diaper or rocking a baby to sleep was difficult. She could see him teaching a 5 year old how to throw a kunai or shurikin but the child had better catch on quickly, she figured, knowing Sasuke's lack of patience. Hopefully the woman he married would have enough affection for both of them.

Of course, she'd seen how children could change even the harshest people. Just look at Ibiki and Anko…

Her eyes wandered over to Kakashi, seated comfortably on a rock, his back pressed against a tree. What kind of father would he make? She'd always been a little surprised that he hadn't married and had kids yet but he was married to his life as a shinobi, wasn't he? He wasn't even dating anyone – at least not to her knowledge. And children? The way he'd amused Yasu this morning, had proved he wasn't completely unable to deal with children. And the thought of him, just as he was now, with a small silver haired toddler sleeping against his chest, the little boy's head curled under the Copy-nin's chin, well, it had her smiling at the image.

"Something amusing, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, his apparent inattentiveness belayed by his question.

"Just letting my mind wander, sensei." Sakura replied with a smile.

"Sakura…" His voice warned.

"Sorry, Kakashi." Sakura said with a smile. Kakashi had been telling her and Naruto for years that he was no longer their teacher and resented being called sensei. Sometimes she absentmindedly used the honorific when she wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. Other times she did it intentionally just to annoy him.

Passing the child to Sakura, Naruto took his turn in the bushes. Sakura sighed and decided to check the little boy's diaper before they went on the move again. Wasn't it just like guys to leave this duty to her? Fine. She'd do it this time but the next one she was leaving it up to one of them.

Dressing the little boy back into his clothes, she stopped suddenly. She felt something. Someone was watching them and they had a powerful chakra signature that they almost hid. _**Almost**_. But she was still able to sense it and, after a glance around, she could tell Kakashi and Sasuke also noticed it. Naruto was still in the bushes and most likely, oblivious. She loved the boy like a brother, but he had the observation skills of a houseplant. He was getting better though. Slowly.

Standing up, Sakura brushed any dirt off the backside of her skirt and bent down to pick up the little boy. Holding him tightly in her arms, she whispered into his ear. "Okay, Yasu, I need you to be really quiet for a few minutes. Can you do that for me?"

The little boy nodded his head vigorously.

"That's a good boy!" Sakura smiled. "Real quiet, remember?" She casually walked over to Ichiro and thrust his son into his arms.

Predictably, Ichiro held his son away from his body and tried to give him back to Sakura.

"Ahm, I-I can't hold him." The worried look in Ichiro's eyes confirmed her suspicions, but she really didn't have time for this now.

"You're going to have to for a few minutes," she said softly. "I'm going to need both of my hands in a couple of seconds. There are people, probably nins, approaching us and odds are they aren't dropping in for a friendly visit. Now stay close to me, I'll be the one guarding you specifically and you may want to cover Yasu's eyes because this could get messy."

Ichiro's head whipped around, searching the bushes for hostile persons, as if they would be standing up and pointing their fingers at him as their target.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed, her head shaking back and forth. Well, so much for subtlety and not letting the enemy know they were aware of their presence.

At that exact moment, Naruto came bursting from the bushes with a yell of "Enemy nins! There's enemy nins coming!" He might as well have been using a bullhorn and spotlights.

"Yes, Dobe. All of us were aware of that but didn't see any reason to let _them_ know that." The scorn in Sasuke's voice was even thicker than normal.

"Well, Teme, why didn't anyone think to tell me that?" Naruto asked indignantly.

"Because you should know enough by now to sense it yourself and stay quiet about it!" The black haired man growled, venom in his voice.

Sakura's hand slid to her hip, waiting for the first sign she would need her kunai. From the corner of her eye, she could see Kakashi and Sasuke disappear, already on the offensive and off to find the enemy. Naruto quickly followed, a determined look on his face.

Standing still, Sakura waited for the first sign of the enemy, her eyes flicking back and forth to take in as much of their surroundings as possible, her ears straining for the first sound of an attack. Then Kakashi was standing right in front of them, a kunai in his hand blocking that of the nin attempting to attack Sakura. The clash of the blades and the surprised grunt of the attacker gave away that he hadn't expected much resistance.

Turning slightly, she threw a handful of shurikins past Kakashi, watching as they impaled another attacker, stopping him in his tracks and knocking him over. The past few years Sakura had taken to dipping some of her weapons into a fast-acting poison and in only a few seconds her opponent would be paralyzed, quickly followed by deceased. As soon as she saw the weapons had hit their mark, she spun around to throw several kunai at another approaching nin.

The second man dodged her kunai and drew a katana from his back, leaving Sakura to draw her wakizashi to block his downward strike. With a chakra-reinforced kick, she sent her attacker back into a tree, knocking him out, but another opponent was close behind to take his place.

"That's it, it's getting too dangerous," she grumbled, rapidly forming a few hand signs. A second later, she watched from the bushes 30 feet away from where the fight originated as the forms of Ichiro and Yasu were grabbed and taken away by two of the enemy while a third engaged her shadow-clone in battle. Hearing a slight whimper from the real Yasu still clutched in the arms of his father who was hiding next to her in the bush, she took her eyes off the fight to look at the little boy. She swore to herself as she saw from his expressive face that he was seconds away from crying.

Opening the medic's pouch worn on her hip, she pulled out a small vial of powder, licked her finger, covered the top of the vile with it and quickly tipped it over to get a small amount of the white dust to stick to her finger. Before Yasu could make another sound, she'd formed a single hand sign and stuck the finger into the child's mouth. Yasu's eyes closed and he fell limp in his father's arms.

"What did you do to him?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"Tell you later. Now shut up." She said softly. What was it with people talking today that they seemed to be determined to give them away? The illusion from the genjutsu wouldn't last forever and the longer she could keep up the illusion, the more confused they'd be when they figured out they'd just kidnapped two logs. Not being as gifted with shadow clones as Naruto was, her clone was going to disappear any moment, leaving a very surprised and angry nin. Or that was the plan at least. At that point, she hoped one of the boys would take care of that guy while she and the Takahashi's hid in the bushes.

Keeping her ears open for any signs of another attack, Sakura remained with Ichiro and Yasu in the bushes watching her teammates fight. She winced slightly as Sasuke's shoulder was sliced by a kunai, which only served to piss him off to the point where he nearly removed the arms his opponent. For good measure, he completely decapitated the next attacker. Naruto had half a dozen clones happily beating the crap out of four other guys while Kakashi, his face now pressed into his beloved Icha Icha book, disposed of the last two.

"Does he always read during a fight like this?" Ichiro whispered.

Sakura ignored the question, hoping her silence would stop him from talking. The fight was almost over, but there was always the possibility there were others that couldn't be seen yet. Even after the fighting had stopped, she and the Takahashi's remained in the bushes until the rest of team seven scouted the area to ensure it was safe for them to come out.

Naruto returned first and walked over to the bushes where Sakura was hiding. Pushing a few branches aside, he grinned at them. "You can come out now; all's clear."

"Thanks Naruto." Sakura took Yasu from his father's arms and wriggled free of the plants. She carried the limp little boy back to where their packs had been left. Pulling her cloak free of the straps, she arranged it underneath Yasu and laid him down to sleep comfortably.

"What did you do to him?" Naruto asked over her shoulder.

"I had to use a little of my sleeping powder. I've never used it on a child before but I didn't give him very much. Just enough to knock him out while the fight was going on. I hated to use it, but I didn't want him to cry and give away our location. It's perfectly safe but I'm unsure of the dosage for a child so I don't know when he will wake up. Actually, with him asleep, it might make it easier for us to travel." Sakura was riffling through her pack, searching for another powdered compound. When she found it and turned around Sasuke was waiting, shirtless, for her to heal his wound. Ten years ago, she would have been drooling all over Sasuke but, while Sasuke had a great body, Sakura just wasn't that interested in him anymore. Kakashi had also returned and was sitting where he had been positioned before, once again, his face pressed into the book in his hands.

Sakura took a moment to inspect Sasuke's wound, using a rag dampened with water from her canteen to clean around the cut, washing away some of the already clotting blood.

"Hmmm… it's fairly deep yet it doesn't look too bad… I think it might have nicked your subclavian artery which is why it bled so much. I'm going to try something new…" Taking a little bit of another powder from its jar, she patted some of it into the wound, staunching the renewed flow of blood. With a green glowing hand Sakura closed her eyes and touched the wound. Gradually, the powder started to glow and fuse the wound together.

"What was that stuff you just put on me?" Sasuke asked, trying to turn his head so he could see what she was doing.

"It's a new compound I've been working on for the standard medical kits. Its main purpose is to stop the bleeding and seal the wound temporarily until you can either heal or reach a medic nin, depending on the severity."

"You're using me as a guinea pig?"

"Well, your hair kinda sticks up like some of the ones I've seen…" Sakura said with a grin.

Naruto snorted. "You're right, it does!"

"Shut up, Dobe." Sasuke growled at Naruto as he turned to face Sakura. "Does this mean you're not going to heal me yet?"

"Well, no. I want to see how well this works and the next time we stop I'll heal you completely."

"Aren't you supposed to ask before you do that sort of thing to a patient?"

"Normally, yes. For you, no because I knew you'd refuse. I need someone in the field to test it on. Naruto's chakra heals him too quickly so I can't use him and Kakashi never tells me when he's wounded unless he's bleeding out on my floor and that's too late to try it. So that leaves you." Sakura smiled sweetly at him and handed him his shirt. "And myself, of course, but I'm not dumb enough to have gotten injured recently. I've been developing this for the general medical kits so nins on missions without a medic can apply it to themselves or other team members to prevent blood loss. All they have to do is put it on the wound and add a little chakra to activate it."

"I didn't realize you were doing that much research recently," Kakashi's smooth voice whispered over her shoulder, causing Sakura to jump.

"Damn it Kakashi! Stop sneaking up on me when I'm working!" Sakura turned her scowling face to look into his, his happy eye-crease annoying her even more.

"Why? It's fun." He said cheerily.

"Alright, that's it." She said, pointing at each of her teammates in turn, starting with Sasuke. "You, put your shirt on. You," she pointed at Naruto. "Pick up Yasu. And you," she said turning to Kakashi. "Stop being so annoying."

Sakura stood up and swung her pack up on her back, glancing around to find Ichiro. She found him sitting on a rock just watching her team get ready to move. Well, she'd talk to him in a second, first Yasu. She turned to Naruto who was holding the still limp child and she looked him over quickly. His color looked good and his breathing was regular so there seemed to be no adverse reaction to the sedative. Unfortunately they couldn't wait for him to wake up; the first group of attackers probably had friends that would come looking when they didn't return.

It was only after her inspection of Yasu did she realize that with Sasuke injured, he wouldn't be able to carry the child for the next portion of the journey. She grinned slightly when she realized who that left. Turning to face the silver haired shinobi, she gestured to Naruto to follow her.

Kakashi immediately caught on to their movements and the moment he saw the grin on her face he narrowed his visible eye. She was up to something. And his suspicions only increased the closer she came.

When she pulled the strip of fabric out of nowhere, Kakashi caught on. The first time he saw the child in that room at his father's home, he knew he would have to take his turn at carrying Yasu, but he didn't have to like it.

"Sakura… what are you doing?" her former teacher asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Helping you with the sling to carry Yasu. It is your turn after all. I mean, Naruto and I have both carried him twice already so that leaves you…"

"And Sasuke."

"Who's injured." Sakura continued for him.

Kakashi frowned, wondering if it was possible Sasuke had somehow foreseen his turn and had gotten wounded on purpose. Not that anything could be done about it now, he thought with resignation.

So it was Naruto who held the still sleeping Yasu against his chest while Sakura wrapped the cloth around him securing the child so he wouldn't flop about needlessly. During the process, Kakashi found he was having trouble thinking about anything other than how gentle and soothing Sakura's touch was around his abdomen, even when she was merely wrapping the dark fabric around him and not healing some injury.

Standing back, Sakura took a look at the obviously unenthusiastic Copy Nin, and smiled broadly at him. Naruto had already gone to talk to Sasuke and she'd turned to look for Jiro when she heard Kakashi grumble about not even receiving a kiss this time.

"You know Sakura, next time it may not be so easy to get me to do something I don't want to do. At least not without another incentive." His words were a hot breath whispered in her ear and she couldn't help but shiver at the interesting thoughts that came to mind. She took a deep breath and brushing aside those intriguing thoughts, she went over to talk to Jiro, who hadn't moved from his seat on a large rock since he left the brush with her and Yasu.

"Umm… Jiro-san? Is everything okay?"

"We were almost killed." He said, his eyes unmoving and focused on the base of a tree.

"Actually, you were pretty safe. That's why we're with you, to protect you and keep you that way." She said gently stepping over to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"But I saw all of them die."

"That's why I told you to cover Yasu's eyes, even though he's probably too young for it to have much effect on him." She said softly. "Try not to think about it too much, okay? We still have a lot of ground to cover today." She stretched her hand out to him and he hesitantly took it, allowing her to pull him to his feet.

"I've never had anyone attack me before. I'm afraid to say I've never seen anyone die like that before either." He spoke softly following the others down the gravel path. "I was the second son, the unimportant one, until my brother died childless last month. He was always the heir, the one who would become daimyo when my father died. I was the one sent to marry the daughter of the neighboring daimyo to tie our clans together."

He was silent for a few moments and Sakura walked quietly next to him, waiting until he was ready to continue his story. After all, she had wondered about the reasons of this mission. No more details had been given other than the fact there were powerful people who would do anything to capture or kill Jiro and his son. When it became apparent he wasn't going to explain further, Sakura felt the need to say something to reassure him.

"Never seeing anyone die violently is nothing to be ashamed of," Sakura said softly. "It's a good thing. One I wish I could claim. If at all possible, you should wish that for your son, as well. Natural death is something everyone encounters and must live with, but pain and death inflicted by others is something best to avoid for as long as you can."

"You're right, of course, but I still can't get the image of the lifeblood of those men pouring from their bodies."

"It'll lessen with time." Sakura smiled reassuringly. On impulse, she reached down and took the man's hand. He looked at her, surprised, but returned her smile and squeezed her hand firmly in his own.

"You're not too bad at this," he said.

"I've had a bit of practice, working in a hospital and all. Why don't you tell me about something you enjoy, something that makes you happy like your family, perhaps. Talk and get your mind off your worries."

Jiro agreed and started to tell him about his wife and what their lives had been like before she died.

Neither noticed the intense gaze of the copy-nin on them as they walked behind Naruto and Sasuke, and it was probably for the best that they didn't.

TBC...

* * *

_Kinda wimped out, didn't i? I tried to put action in but I definitely need to work on it some more, don't i? and yes, there will be more KakaSaku in the next chapter, I swear. I had to build the back story a bit first._

_Oh, well, please review and let me know how I'm doing! Encouragement is greatly appreciated._


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry for the wait on the update. As a reward, have a nice long chapter (long for me).

* * *

_

To Sakura, the next portion of their walk went surprisingly fast. Perhaps it had something to do with Jiro sharing some stories about his late wife. For an arranged marriage, she was surprised by how much he really seemed to care about her, and if his stories were to be believed, she had cared about him.

After telling a few stories about their first year of marriage and how much he and his wife had wanted a child, he finally seemed to calm down, the shock of earlier events slowly fading from his mind.

He talked about his first meeting with his wife, how they had both sat in silence in an otherwise empty room for a their entire first meeting just coming to terms with the sudden announcement by their parents that not only were they to have arranged marriages it would be to the person they would be meeting in a matter of minutes. The little time spent together in silence had been their only meeting before their actual wedding ceremony a few weeks later. Other than the formal exchanged greetings, that was all they had said to each other that first time they met.

He told of how they had slowly gotten to know each other, how her father had build them a home on his land and they had moved into it – the home he had just left. But he never mentioned her death or the birth of his son. He changed the subject, asking Sakura about her life instead.

"Me?" She asked in surprise.

"Married, dating, uh… what…?" Jiro asked, glancing over at her.

Naruto, who had been walking in front of them the whole time, dropped back and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Nope! She's completely single! Hasn't had a date in ages – oof!" His words were cut off by a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"Ah." Jiro glanced over to Sakura quickly and slowly, but surely, started to walk closer to her.

"Sakura," Kakashi's voice broke into their conversation. "I believe Yasu is waking up."

"Oh, good, let me take a look at him." Sakura slipped out from under Naruto's arm and waited until Kakashi caught up with her. Brushing aside the cloth hiding the child's face, she growled at her team leader.

"He's snoring, Kakashi."

"Oh, my mistake." He smiled and gave her a happy eye-crease. "I thought he was giggling."

"You're such an idiot." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Takes one to know one."

If possible, she would have sworn he smiled even wider.

* * *

Increasing her pace, Sakura caught up with the group in front of her just in time to hear Naruto telling a less than enthusiastic looking Jiro about his and Hinata's relationship. Somehow, Sasuke had slowed enough to be overhearing his friend's words as well. Naruto wasn't saying anything she wasn't aware of, but she was sure it was certainly more than Jiro had ever wanted to know about the blond haired man.

"She's the best! She's kinda quiet but when it's just us, lying in bed, she'll talk and tell me what she's thinking. And you wouldn't believe what she's like in bed!"

"Naruto!" Sakura said sharply. "Jiro-san doesn't want to know about your sex life. Really!"

"_No one_ wants to know about your sex life, Dobe." Sasuke kicked in.

"There's nothing wrong with my sex life!" Naruto protested.

"No one ever said there was anything wrong with it, just that we don't want to hear the details." Sakura explained.

Clearing his throat, Jiro smiled weakly and tried to change the subject. "And how about you, Sasuke-san? Are you married or dating anyone?"

"I have a girlfriend." The quiet man grudgingly admitted.

"Oh? And how did you meet her?" Jiro asked politely, attempting to keep Sasuke talking.

Naruto snorted. "It was actually the girl's best friend who met him."

"More like stalked him." Sakura chimed in with a laugh.

"Stalked him?" Jiro asked. "Isn't that a little worrying?"

"Not when you're a shinobi and can defend yourself. It just tends to be a bit annoying. Besides, it wasn't the malicious sort of stalking. You see, even in the shinobi village we develop… followers." Sakura brushed aside Jiro's concern easily.

"Hah! Everyone else develops followers, Sasuke develops stalkers. Sakura was even one of his stalkers at one time." Naruto ribbed.

"Hey, I wasn't… well, okay, I guess… but, I mean, I wasn't 'stalker' bad, was I?" Sakura asked.

Her two teammates nodded their heads vigorously. Kakashi's sing-song voice came from behind them, "Oh yes, you were, Sakura-chan!"

"Thanks guys." She grumbled, visibly slumping. "Well, at least I got over it."

"Was that after the first or second time he tried to kill us?" Naruto asked sweetly.

"The second." She said sullenly. She wasn't about to tell them it had actually been when he'd held a chirping chidori to nearly fatally wounded Kakashi's throat that she'd woken up from her dreams of a future with Sasuke.

Jiro cleared his throat to move the story along.

"Suki was actually persuing one of our friends, Neji, while her best friend was after Sasuke. And if you think Sasuke is emotionless, you should meet Neji! Better yet, watch the two of them at the bar sometime. It's like two statues, only their arms moving the drinks to their mouths occasionally. The silence is unnerving. Not a word from either of them. It's like they're dead or something. They're just happy to sit there in complete silence." Naruto said, his hands interlaced behind his head and his arms, once again, sticking out to the side, his eyes staring up at the gathering clouds. It was probably going to rain again before long. They'd been rather lucky to have such a stretch of clear weather this morning so they were more than overdue for a storm.

"That's because _he_ understands the gift of silence, unlike the loudmouth over there." Sasuke said.

"Anyway," Sakura continued, "eventually this one night at the bar, Suki gave up on Neji and came over to drag her friend away from Sasuke, who her friend had just about cornered in the bar. Sasuke was a little amazed by how cold Suki was to him and found himself intrigued, didn't you, Sasuke?"

"Hnnn." He replied uncommittedly.

Naruto took up the narrative. "Suki gave him the cold shoulder before grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her away. The next night when the pair showed up at the bar, each following her selected stalkee, Sasuke started pumping her friend for information about Suki."

Sakura chimed in, enjoying this immensely. "But Suki still wanted nothing to do with him. She wanted Neji, but Neji wanted another of our friends, TenTen, who was completely oblivious to Neji because he was terrible at sending signals but definitely receptive once he got it through his thick head. But oh, yeah that's another story." Sakura cut that short as Naruto motioned for her to stop there.

"Right. But once Sasuke had his interest piqued, he couldn't leave her alone. _Sasuke_ became the stalker. But she wasn't interested, mostly because her friend accused her of betraying her and stopped speaking to her. Eventually, Suki got tired of it, hauled off and punched him in the face. Being a shiniobi, there was no way she could have actually hurt him, but when she struck him, she did it with her thumb inside her fist, nearly breaking it."

"So Sasuke brought her to me to heal her." Sakura took over again. "She and I had a talk and I managed to convince her to finally give Sasuke a chance."

"And they did well from there?"

"Famously." Sakura replied.

"Wow. How about Kakashi?" Jiro asked.

"Um…." Naruto looked at his companions in confusion. "I don't know, how about you guys?"

"Not a clue." Sasuke said.

"Don't really know." Sakura concurred. "It's never been the sort of question we've asked him."

Naruto was scratching the back of his neck again. "He's just always just been Kakashi. I've never really seen him with anyone. I mean, women have come on to him because he's all mysterious and everything, but I can't say I've ever seen him with anyone."

"Well, I've heard a story or two about him in the baths before," Sakura said. "But it's always been a 'friend of my sister' sort of thing."

"Ah… is he listening?" Jiro asked quietly.

"No way to know. He wouldn't give us any sign if he did, except for a wave and the typical, 'Yo!' " Sasuke finally spoke.

Sakura's mind wandered away from the small group's conversation. Was it possible Kakashi had someone special the team didn't know about? Their team had always been closer than most, at least the three of them had been, but Kakashi had always been aloof, never telling them much of his personal life. There had been that mission a year or so ago that had been just the two of them, but she'd been the one who talked most and the subject of Kakashi's romantic history never came up. He'd mostly just listened, even though he had finally told her about his eye. She already knew the story, thanks to Tsunade, but having him tell her showed he trusted her. Of course it was one of the few times he talked on the mission…

But that was just Kakashi. Generally alone at the bar most shinobi hung out at, rarely flirting, hardly ever pulling his nose from his Icha Icha book long enough to even down his sake. He just… was.

It wasn't like she hadn't seen him seduce a woman before. It was on a mission a number of years ago and he'd needed to get information out of a certain lady, and he'd obviously been quite good at it. _Really_ good at it.

She was pretty sure he wasn't dating anyone; his best friend was Genma and Genma was dating her best friend, and the town gossip, Ino and she certainly would have heard something by now if he was. It wasn't like he hadn't dated anyone, she could recall two specific women who had managed to pick him up at the bar – but it had been just like that, they had to make all the effort to get the laidback man to even look up from his book much less leave with them. A little part of her wondered just how far he had gone with those women. Had he showed them his face? Had they been able to kiss his bare lips? Had they been able to see… more?

Why was she even thinking like this?

_Maybe because you're jealous?_

Sakura sighed. She really and truly hated this inner voice of hers. As she had gotten older, the voice had more or less disappeared; at least it remained hidden until she found herself conflicted about something. And the voice speaking up now apparently meant she was conflicted about something.

_Ahem, ahem. Jealousy?_

Oh, for god's sake, shut up! I'm most certainly not jealous of some hypothetical woman.

_I wouldn't be so sure…_

"Sakura!" the sound of Naruto's voice and one of his hands waving in front of her face brought her out of her thoughts. "Kakashi-sensei said it looks like rain so we're going to break for lunch."

"Oh. Good idea." She said, wondering just how far out of it she had been.

"Where were you? I had to call your name half a dozen times."

"Lost in thought," she replied. It was a good thing he had called to her. The rest of the group had stopped and she might have kept waking for quite a way before she realized she was alone. And it would be just like Kakashi to allow her to keep going, too.

With a sigh of relief, she shed her backpack and stretched her body to work out the kinks formed from hours of walking. She took a good look around the site Kakashi had chosen.

It was at a good place, on top of a very small and rocky hill, almost unnoticeable but enough to drain the water away from the shelter Naruto and Sauske were currently setting up. Glancing up at the sky, she could already hear the distant rumble of thunder from the gathering clouds and it was easy to see the afternoon storm that was rapidly growing.

_Like clockwork_, she mused. Every day around noon it stormed for about an hour, after which the skies cleared for a few hours. Occasionally there would be another storm around three o'clock, but it wasn't as regular as the noon and evening storms. It was those evening storms that were the rough ones. They started about seven o'clock and lasted all night with lots of wind, thunder and lightning. These were the storms Kakashi and Sasuke loved to stand out in to properly experience the storm. Or something stupid like that. It wouldn't be half as idiotic if they would just wear their damn cloaks.

Speaking of Kakashi, Sakura glanced over to see that he had sat down under a tree with Yasu who was finally awake from his nap. She was surprised to see that Kakashi had summoned the youngest of his nin-dogs, Pup who was playing with the little boy. At the moment, Yasu was struggling to stand up but every time he got himself balanced onto his hands and feet, an overenthusiastic Pup would bump into him and knock him down. Luckily both of the participants were enjoying it too much to really care that they were getting nowhere.

Kakashi himself was sitting against a tree, dirty novel grasped tightly in hand. it looked like he was concentrating solely on the book, but Sakura knew he was probably keeping an eye on the little boy and his nin-dog; he had that sort of skill, after all. When they were all younger – hell, just this morning – he would fight them with his nose buried in one of those damn books and it was the most annoying thing, giving the impression that they didn't offer enough of a challenge for him to give his undivided attention to. But then again, that was the point wasn't it?

It was just that he took such joy in doing it. Sakura sighed.

Her eyes searched for Jiro, and she smiled again when she found him. He had curled up under a tree not too far from Kakashi, his pack under his head and his cloak covering him like a blanket and he was snoring softly. Well, at least someone was comfortable.

Sakura made her way over to the tree Kakashi was propped up against.

"Kakashi, can I ask you something?" Her voice was low as she didn't want Jiro to wake up and overhear them.

"Mmmm." She took his nonverbal response for an affirmative and settled beside him.

"What would make a grown man unwilling to hold his own child?"

"What makes you think I would know the answer to this?"

"If I asked Naruto, he wouldn't understand well enough to answer. If I asked Sasuke, he'd understand enough to answer, but he wouldn't share it with me. That leaves you." Sakura smiled sweetly at him.

"Hnn… There's a lot of possible answers to that question."

"Like…?"

"The general lack of caring or interest."

"That one doesn't apply. He seems to care enough about Yasu, he just doesn't want to hold him. I mean, when we were attacked back there, he was worried the most about his son but the minute I told him to take Yasu from me, he flat out refused."

"Perhaps he is scared."

"Scared of a one year old child?"

"That whole projectile vomiting thing they tend to do even freaks me out sometimes."

Sakura gave a soft giggle. The thought of Kakashi running in fear from a child, even a puking child, was too funny to remain straight faced.

"So if you had kids, would you be afraid to hold them?"

"If you'll remember, I've babysat for not only Asuma Jr, but Anko and Ibiki's unholy pair. I have no real fear of children."

Sakura laughed again, "Who would have imagined that two insanely strict and, well, scary people could have such hellions?"

"Hmmm. They are a bit harsh with everyone but their own children."

"The ones who really need it. But back to Jiro. If you had a son, what would make you unwilling to hold him?"

"If I had a son?" Kakashi turned to look at Sakura out of his good eye. "That's a bit hard to imagine, isn't it?"

"What, you with kids? Look at Yasu playing with Pup! They're both enjoying it! And the way you sat with him this morning was great, too."

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"I can't see why. But, back to Jiro…"

"Honestly, I think it's a combination of several factors, the most important being the loss of his wife. As near as I can tell, he seemed to really care for her, unusual for an arranged marriage and when he lost her during childbirth, the possibility of losing his child was too much. It's also possible that, like a number of men, he was afraid to touch such a delicate, breakable creature and without prompting from a wife, no one forced him to get over that fear. It could be a combination of the two but the only real way you can find out is to ask him."

"Oh." Sakura hesitated. "You know, I think that's the most you've said to me at once in months – no, maybe years." She said with a smile. "Hmm... I guess it makes sense, though. And I suppose I have to ask him then, right?"

Kakashi responded with his usual non-verbal tone.

Sakura stood up and brushed the dust from her skirt. "It was nice of you to summon Pup for Yasu to play with." She said, giving him a smile that had Kakashi burying his nose even further into his book.

Turning to the boys, she was going to ask about the pack with Jiro's food and direct the two to gather wood and some water when she saw Naruto bending over to tie one of the ropes for the shelter to a stake.

"Naruto, your pants are ripped, again." Sakura said in exasperation, walking over to join him.

"Where?" he dropped the rope he'd been holding to turn and try and see the back of his pants and the corner of the tarp dropped onto Sasuke's head. Sasuke growled.

"Would you fix them for me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto found the hole and stuck a finger through it. It looks like it had been a cut from a kunai.

Sakura looked at him, hands on hips, single eyebrow raised. "Naruto, you're 23 years old. Surely you can fix your own pants by now."

"But... that's why I have Hinata."

Sakura's annoyance was rising. "You can't be serious." She fumed. "Please tell me you're not just dating Hinata because of all the things she does for you." By this time Sasuke, who had long since tired of relationship talk, had gone to gather some firewood. He knew where this was headed and wanted nothing to do with it.

"Well, no. I really like her." Naruto turned away from finishing the last tie for the shelter for the upcoming storm. "She... she accepts me for who I am, even though I'm the kuuybi container… She puts up with me. The real me."

"So you just 'really like her.' Is that all?" He patted the last corner rope before he sat down against one of the trees used as a base for the shelter. Sakura sat next to him and rested her head against his shoulder.

Naruto glanced around as if he was afraid of being overheard. He continued in a loud whisper. "No. I think I love her." The blond haired man bowed his head and twiddled his fingers, something he'd picked up from Hinata.

"Is that all? What about her?"

"I think she might love me too." He said slowly, turning to look at her with sad eyes.

Sakura struggled not to roll her eyes. It wasn't as if that hadn't been obvious for the past decade.

"And what's wrong with that?" Sakura asked. She was a bit confused by Naruto's logic.

"I think… I want to ask her to marry me." He said softly. "Do you think she would accept?"

"In a heartbeat." Sakura gave him a reassuring smile. "I can't think of anything she'd like more."

"But her father hates me. He knows I'm the kyuubi container and he'll never let Hinata marry me, even if she wants to."

"Naruto, this is really unlike you. You're usually so confident, sure that you'll find a way to make things work."

"It's different this time, Sakura. I can understand that people who I don't know, don't like or respect me. They have no reason to believe I'm anything but a monster. But Hiashi and the clan elders have met me and know all about me yet they continue to put me down every time we meet. To them, I'll always be a monster, even if I manage to make it to hokage. And it makes Hinata sad. She's never said anything, but I can tell. I'm not that blind and I don't want to make her life miserable."

"Well, I can see your point but I think that choice should be left up to Hinata."

"Don't you see? I don't want to make her choose between me and her family." Naruto's voice was rising with his frustration level.

Sakura gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I'm afraid she's going to have to, eventually. At least as long as her father continues to disapprove. And Hinata abdicating to Hanabi is out?" Sakura asked without much hope.

"No. Apparently it doesn't work that way. Besides, Hiashi wants Hinata to marry Neji so he can be clan leader."

"And Neji? How does he feel about it?"

"You know he and Tenten have been dating for a while now."

"Right… So… Don't suppose the old man could be told to mind his own business and just fuck off?" Sakura offered, feeling a bit at a loss for suggestions. Hinata's whole family situation was a bit sticky, what with her being the designated future head.

Naruto threw his head back and laughed loudly. "I would give anything to be able to do just that! And wouldn't the look on his face be priceless?" The unnaturally serious and depressed tone to his voice was gone as he flashed her his usual wide grin. "Maybe once I'm hokage I can tell him to do just that."

Sakura returned his grin and nodded. There was no way it would work, but she would put a little thought into it and maybe she could find a solution. She'd discuss the matter with Tsunade and maybe the older woman had some insight into the matter. "Until then, I'm thinking you're going to need to fix your own pants – well, at least on this mission."

The clatter of driftwood and sticks falling from Sasuke's arms made Sakura realize she should probably get to work on lunch before it started to rain. If they hadn't had the baby, they wouldn't have bothered with the hot food and just eaten rice balls or something, but with the addition of the child and the fact Naruto had eaten all the rice cereal she made this morning, she needed to make some fresh for Yasu. With that and a bit of the fresh fruit sent by Emiko, they would have a decent lunch.

It was routine, and their team fell into it without discussion. Sakura, by default, handled most of the cooking. It wasn't like the others couldn't cook… no wait, they really _couldn't_ cook. Sakura's own culinary skills weren't anything to sing high praises about, but burned to a crisp wasn't her predominate seasoning like her other teammates' cooking. When left up to Naruto, it was almost impressive how one could burn instant ramen – especially since all you needed to do was add hot water to the noodles.

In exchange, the other three usually kept watch and handled some of the other chores around camp. Because this was a trip through Lightning where Kakashi and Sakuke complained about not being able to sleep anyway, they would handle the watch. Naruto was carrying the heavy scrolls full of baby supplies and the like. The two lightning chakra users would be able to catch enough sleep during the rest stops throughout the day required by the civilians. Keeping Yasu well rested would be the best solution to keeping him quiet and while they wouldn't cover as much ground as they would like, staying away from the villages and well populated areas would help keep their movements as quiet as possible.

If this hadn't been an escort mission, the team would be moving from sun up to sundown, but with a civilian and one of them being a child, they needed to take a much easier pace. Sakura glanced up at the sky; hopefully she could get something warm fixed for Yasu before it started raining.

With a woosh, Sasuke used a jutsu to blow a small flame to start the fire just as Naruto came trotting up a game path from a nearby creek with a bucket of water. After rummaging through the scrolls from Nartuo's pack, she found the one with fresh diaper supplies and the one for soiled diapers and threw them to Sasuke, who caught one expertly in each hand. A little further searching and she found the one with all the food.

"Check Yasu's diaper while I'm fixing lunch, would you?" Sakura asked. An ominous rumble of thunder drew her attention back to lunch. She would have enjoyed watching Sasuke attempt the diaper change but, rain was threatening, so she'd just have to catch the next one. Next time promised to be humorous as well, so she resigned herself to cooking, for the moment.

* * *

The rain started just minutes after Sakura had finished cooking the rice cereal. In a rush, she grabbed the scroll with the food and the cooking pot and dashed to the shelter. Kakashi came more slowly with a giggling Yasu tucked under one arm and wriggling pup under the other; Jiro came running moments after Kakashi. The other two members of their party had already been reclined under the tarp.

They spent the next hour in the shelter until the rain stopped. Sakura enjoyed watching Naruto trying to feed Yasu and the little boy not wanting to eat and trying to spit the food out. Pup was waiting eagerly to lick it off the little boy's face and shirt. She tried to stifle her laughter but it didn't always work. Sasuke even cracked a smile at his friend's difficulties while Jiro also enjoyed it, laughing out loud at Naruto and his son. Kakashi had curled up in a corner, snoring softly with a pack as his pillow.

Sakura looked over at her team leader and gave him a soft kick in his leg with her foot. He grumbled and shifted in his sleep, his snores disappearing into soft, heavy breaths. She wanted to reach out and brush his usually gravity defying hair from his face, but she refrained from the action. It was never good to wake Kakashi like that; he was too dangerous of a ninja to startle in his sleep if one didn't care for a kunai to the neck. The whole team had seen Naruto learn that one the hard way one afternoon and it hadn't been pretty.

Her thoughts drifted back to her earlier conversation with her former teacher. Kakashi was right, if she really wanted to know why Jiro wouldn't hold his son, the best way to find out would be to ask him.

But why had he been so incredulous when she mentioned the possibility of him having his own son? Had Kakashi really never thought of having a family? Surely everyone at least thought about it at one time or another, even if the ultimate decision was against it. But Kakashi had sounded like the very idea of him having a child was absurd, unheard of. What could cause a man to completely disregard the potential of offspring?

For some reason, she almost found this more intriguing than the question of why Jiro didn't want to pick up his own son.

It was then that Kakashi's coal black eye opened and stared straight back at her.

TBC…

* * *

_I love reading the reviews and the stories people have been leaving – even if I don't respond to them right away. I'm going to be evil and steal some of the ideas – the details from some of the comments and include them in my fic. I'm also going to apologize that updating is going to be a bit further apart – I had to take two classes this semester to be eligible for financial aid when I had only planned on one and I work 55-60 hrs a week and I'm running out of prewritten stuff. Most of this chapter was what I've written this past month and I'm so proud of myself!! *pats self of head* good self!_

_So I haven't abandoned this fic, updates might just be a little far apart._


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura swallowed hard, her heart having leapt into her throat when Kakashi's single visible eye opened and caught her staring at him. A nervous smile formed on her lips as she quickly looked away. After a few seconds her eyes darted back to find him still watching her but with a grin on his face.

"See something you like, Sakura?" His soft tone was just loud enough not to be overheard.

She could feel her face flushing bright red, the heat terribly uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as his gaze. "Of course not," she said scornfully, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "What would I like about a dirty old man who reads porn all the time?" Her eyes darted away again and she noticed it had finally stopped raining. Scrambling to her feet, she started to gather things together, not hazarding another look at her team leader still lying reclined on the rocks. She could still feel his single black eye still on her.

Oh dear god, her heart was still racing from the surprise! It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong, watching him while he slept, but she still felt oddly guilty being caught like that. And then he had just grinned at her, like he knew what she had been thinking about!

"Sakura…" Kakashi's voice broke through her thoughts. She turned abruptly, the contents of her bag spilling to the ground. The warmth of his breath on the side of her neck sent a shiver down her spine as he whispered in her ear. "You're blushing."

For a moment, she could only stare down at her spilled clothing, her face absolutely burning in embarrassment. It was only as one of Kakashi's gloved hands reached out toward a pair of lacy pale green and black panties that she came to her senses and smacked his hand away.

"Pervert!" she whispered harshly, not wanting to draw any more attention to their interaction than necessary. Her face now the same color as her hair, she turned her head to glare at him but saw his oddly fixated gaze on her underwear and stopped. Why were men so fascinated with a girl's panties? She sighed and started to rapidly stuff her clothes back into her bag, breaking Kakashi's concentration on her underthings. Before she could say another chastising word to him, he had rapidly retreated from her side, busying himself with taking down the shelter and ignoring her completely.

Sakura could only sigh in relief, willing her still rapidly beating heart to return to its normal pace.

* * *

Kakashi was having problems of his own at that moment. The biggest one was struggling to keep from looking at the rose haired kinochi trying to pack up her bag and make sure everything else was ready to go. He really wanted to glance over just once, but he was worried he'd find her looking at him again.

Green silk panties, the same color as her eyes, trimmed with a delicate black lace that just begged him to run a finger along the opening for the leg. What the hell was she doing with such lovely underwear on a mission, knowing full well they could be destroyed with a clumsily thrown shurikin? But that would mean her lovely ass would have a wound as well and this really wasn't something he should be thinking about – he should be trying to get this goddamned knot untied. How much strength from the nine-tails had Naruto used to tie it anyway?

Kakashi sighed and took a deep breath, pulling out a kunai to work at the knot.

This mission was causing more trouble than usual for the usually stoic copy nin. Actually, the mission itself was turning out to be quite easy and those men who had attacked them earlier had been a joke. He had taken them seriously at first, but had rapidly gotten bored and pulled out his trusty remedy: his Icha Icha book.

So what was his trouble?

It was the pink haired woman walking around on those incredibly long legs wearing an entirely too brief skirt and pair of shorts. The one who just spilled her underwear out before him. He sighed and cut the rope.

Sakura. She was the problem.

What in god's name had possessed him to ask for a kiss last night? He knew better than that. The words had just kind of slipped out before he had know what he had been saying, and by then, it was too late to take them back without making her suspicious.

And what would she be suspicious of?

Oh, I don't know, the fact she seemed to be in every one of his dreams and fantasies? That he repeatedly had to check his Icha Icha book to make sure Jirariya hadn't done something incredibly stupid like drawing a certain pink haired kunoichi in his latest work?

How long now had he avoided his former student? Weeks, months, a year or more? He'd taken every mission possible just to stay away and now Tsunade-hime had decided he was needed for this joke of a mission – a joke of a mission with _her_.

By his account, it had been about a year and a half since that mission that had paired the two of them up for a six-weeks in Wind country. It had been a very successful mission and they worked well together, too well together, in fact. Kakashi found himself relaxing around her and it had been a very comforting feeling. They had grown closer and while he hadn't exactly opened up and spilled his life story, thank god, instead, he listened to her talk or they spent time in a comfortable silence, a good choice for a surveillance mission.

When the mission was over, he found himself left with the strangest feeling – that of loss. He also noticed he seemed to be searching her out and she had always seemed glad to see him, something he was grateful for. After one night they had spent a few hours drinking with friends at a local bar he found himself on her doorstep, seconds away from kissing her and he realized he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Looking down into her smiling face, flushed pink from the alcohol, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful she'd become. And it was then, as he was studying her rosy red lips, that he realized exactly what a pervert he'd become and how, if he really valued her, he needed to keep away from at all costs. A young, talented konichi, and one of the best medics ever, could never find him, this old, worn out shinobi who had once been her teacher, attractive and truly, the only reason she was standing with him outside her door was because she'd had too much to drink.

This beautiful woman should be with someone her own age, someone who could give her everything she deserved in life – someone who could give freely of himself so she could have the family he knew she wanted. She could never be happy with him and as while his brain was well aware of that fact, he could feel a strange heaviness in his chest that still drew him toward her. Giving her one more glance, he poofed away from her doorstep and took every solo mission available in the following months.

Even avoiding her hadn't been enough to get her out of his mind. She was a beautiful, kind and caring woman who had once been his student. Of all the women in the world who were off limits, she was at the top of his list.

Top of the list? Hell, she was the list. Other than a few practical and logical exceptions from age and rank, Sakura was the single female he shouldn't be thinking about like this. Perhaps that was her appeal?

If so, it was just one of her many positive features. Including the way she sometimes looked at him.

Damn it, he had no right to think of her as anything but a teammate and friend. After all, friendship is all there could ever be between them. If there was one thing he was certain of, he was sure she could never see him as attractive. That night on her doorstep had only happened because she was completely drunk and he was fairly certain she didn't remember it as she had never mentioned it. He was an old man, something his team delighted in teasing him about, not only emotionally damaged but someone who had once been her teacher. She deserved better than to saddle herself with someone such as him. It just wasn't meant to be, so he would relegate her to his fantasies and as long as he continued to remind himself that fantasy was all it was, everything would be all right. After all, that would be the only place he would ever see her wearing those lacey little panties… and maybe a matching bra.

Able to unknot the final rope without cutting it, he folded the tarp and stuffed it into a bag. He was a strong man and could control his feelings. Lord knew he had to deal with desire before – and he could do it again. The object of his fantasies was just a little closer than he'd ever had it before.

He pasted a small grin on his face as he whipped out his little orange companion and propped himself up against a tree. Just because he needed to stay on his guard around her didn't mean he was going to stop giving her a hard time – oh, no, one had to take every chance he got to get her face to turn that lovely flushed color the same shade as her hair. Besides, it was just too enjoyable to pass up.

* * *

Sakura was glancing around the area, looking to see if there was anything that had been left out when Sasuke came up carrying Yasu. Easily passing the boy off to Naruto, he pulled off his shirt and turned his back to Sakura.

"Do you think you could heal this already? It's rather uncomfortable." He said, looking back at her over his shoulder.

"Uncomfortable? Does it itch or burn or what? Do you think it was the powder that caused it?" Sakura reached into her medic's pouch and pulled out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a square of gauze. She was a little worried there was some sort of negative reaction with the powder she'd developed. Looking at it, the cut looked like it had scabbed over and was already starting to heal.

"No, it just hurts, alright? Your precious powder did its job so would you just heal me already?" he growled.

"No need to get nasty about it." She said and gave him a swipe with the alcohol soaked gauze. The muscles in his back contracted but he didn't make a sound and she felt a little better. Satisfied that she had cleaned the area surrounding the wound sufficiently, she set the alcohol and gauze aside and arranged her hands around his wound. As the healing green glow of her hands began, his muscles gradually relaxed and his breathing calmed.

Jiro's eyes widened as he saw the glow of Sakura's chakra gradually healing the cut on Sasuke's back. He remained silent until she opened her eyes and gave her patient a light smack on his back to tell him she was done before the man spoke.

"What was that you just did, Sakura-san? That green light? Can I believe my eyes when his wound healed under your touch?

Sakura, who hadn't even bothered to sit down while treating Sasuke, bent over to grab her pack and slung it up onto her back. "I'm a medic so I heal people. It's also why I was assigned to guard you and chose to hide in the bushes this morning. It was safer for you and Yasu to be somewhere hidden."

"I thought it was because you were a girl." Jiro replied picking up his own small pack.

Sakura stopped, her arms outstretched to take Yasu from Naruto's hands and she turned with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh–oh–ho, boy, are you in for it." Naruto called with a broad grin.

"Yeah. You might want to rephrase that last sentence, Jiro-san. Sakura's got a mean right hook. Just ask any of the trees or boulders near Kohona." Sasuke smirked. Even Kakashi had winced when he heard their escortee's reply, briefly wondering if he would need to step in to protect the naive man.

Jiro looked a little confused and to everyone else's surprise, Sakura took a deep breath and gave a forced smile as she drew Yasu toward her chest. "No Jiro, it wasn't because I'm a female. Some of our most deadly shinobi are female. I happen to be better at genjutsu than the others and as a medic, they all know I prefer to protect rather than fight. But that is because I'd rather heal someone than kill them. Don't misunderstand, I've done my fair share of assassinations and I'll kill to protect myself and those who are important to me."

"Ah," the man gave a nod, accepting her explanation. Even Naruto shook his head in realization that Jiro hadn't recognized his unintentional insult to Sakrua. "I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with genjutsu . What is that?"

Naruto had busied himself wrapping Yasu to Sakura's chest with the band of cloth for that purpose and Sakura soon had her arms free. "Let me show you." She said. Giving a few hand signals Sakura watched as Jiro's expression became slightly panicked.

For Jiro, the sensation was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Suddenly, the Kohona nins were gone, along with his son and all of their gear. Worried, he glanced around, looking for any sign of them in the clearing, but there wasn't anything, just a bare trail leading away from the empty area, nothing but trees, bushes and path as far as the eye could see. A low growl came from the bushes to his right. Spinning around to find where the sound was coming from, he saw a giant tiger slowly creep from the underbrush while a loud roar came from behind him. He hesitated to turn his back on the snarling creature currently in front of him, but he had to know what was behind him. Taking a deep breath to gather his courage, he slowly turned to see another large cat that must have been a lion, the mane giving it away.

His heart was now thundering in his ears, his chest heaving as he struggled for breath. Jiro swallowed hard and tried to decide what to do, which way would be the safest to run.

Then suddenly both cats rolled themselves gracefully to the ground and, to Jiro's great surprise, a loud rumbling purr came from both great creatures. In his shock, Jiro dropped to his knees with a released gasp of breath, his confusion clearly showing across his face. And suddenly, Sakura, with Yasu still strapped to her chest, was sitting next to the lion, running her hands through his mane for a few seconds before both giant cats disappeared and the rest of the team and supplies reappeared by the tree line.

"That is genjutsu – creating illusions with our chakra." Sakura explained. "It's the same sort of technique I used to create a copy of you and Yasu our attackers attempted to kidnap this morning. You wouldn't have been able to see it, but once they were a ways away, the genjutsu wore off and the figures turned back into the logs we commonly use as a base for the illusion.

"Kakashi and Sasuke are really good at it as well, but the person has to be able to see their eyes first – kind of like hypnotizing. Normal genjutsu isn't limited by viewing a person's eyes, but using their Sharingan has other advantages normal genjutsu doesn't."

Jiro remained where he had fallen to his knees, his chest still heaving as he tried to convince himself it had all been an illusion, something his brain was having trouble doing as he had seen and heard those creatures with his own senses. Hell, he could still smell the musky odor of the two giant cats lingering in the air.

"I think you might have over done it, Sakura." Sasuke's voice had a hint of amusement in it. The slightly proud look on Sakura's face turned to one of concern. Raising from her seat on the gravel path, she went over to kneel next to Jiro.

"Ah, I hope I didn't scare you too much, did I?" She asked hesitantly, extending a hand toward one of his.

With a deep breath and a forced smile, Jiro looked up into her worried face. "No, not too badly. I must say it was very convincing and had me quite worried for a minute there." his hand held onto hers with a firm grip and she tried to smile. "Lions and tigers aren't exactly everyday encounters for the rest of us, so I must say it was quite the unexpected surprise."

"Ah, well, while that had actually been the idea, scaring you to death wasn't. I just needed to show you something that couldn't possibly be true. Or at least was extremely unlikely."

"You certainly succeeded then."

"We probably ought to get going if we want to get to find a good campsite before it gets dark." Sakura easily rose to her feet and, taking Jiro's other hand in hers, pulled him up to stand next to her. Naruto and Sasuke had already started out along the path and Sakura pulled on the one of Jiro's hands she continued to hold in her own and lead him along with her. He was in no mood to disagree and followed along with the pink haired woman, all the while trying to come to terms with the whole business with the big cats being just a demonstration of what she could do with her skills. It was no wonder she objected to his earlier statement. Using that illusion skill of hers, he had no doubt she could have held off all of their attackers earlier this morning. And what was it the Uchia had said about her having a mean right hook?

He looked down at the soft hand still holding his own. It was hard to believe that such a lovely woman like her was a hardened ninja that could kill someone. Well, until he saw it with his own eyes, he wasn't going to believe it and hopefully, this trip would be uneventful and the opportunity for her to kill someone would never come up. Although, he had seen an occasional flash of anger that sure looked like she could kill one of her teammates – especially the blond one. Ah, well, hopefully he wouldn't have to see that either.

He gave a little push to his arm, sending their still clasped hands swinging gently.

Neither of them noticed the single dark eye that followed the motion momentarily before the owner's face was buried further into his dirty novel.

* * *

Kakashi unrolled the scroll with the map on it, allowing everyone to crowd around and get a look. They were all gathered around the fire after dinner and it had started raining an hour ago but the evening's thunderstorm hadn't yet begun. He could feel it coming though, the way his chakra was drawn to the outermost layer of his skin, the way the energy just hung in the air – oh, yes, he knew it was coming. And it had him just the tiniest bit on edge as well.

"This is the map your father sent us, Jiro, and it shows the major routes between yours and your father's homes. I've marked the one I plan on us taking with red and we're about half way there now. Barring any unforeseen difficulties, we should be there in another two days or so."

"It would have taken less if we had gone by one of the more direct routes." Jiro said.

"It also would have been very predictable and taken us through several villages. I want to avoid all signs of people. People tend to talk and we already know that there have been thugs sent after you."

"Ah, so that's why you chose such a long route. I must confess, I thought you had gotten lost, the way we seemed to be taking such winding paths."

"We've been walking around for a day and a half now and you've waited this long to mention it?" Sasuke spoke up, his voice quiet in the gathering darkness.

"I figured it wasn't a good idea to question the people with all the sharp weapons." Jiro said with a smile. "But I also trust you know what you are doing. Except… I've also wondered why we haven't been riding horses."

"How many ninjas have you seen riding horses?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"Besides, horses are a lot of work," Sakura chimed in. "And they're even more stubborn than Kakashi!" she said with a smile.

Kakashi hung his head. "I remember a time when you all used to respect me…"

"Now that was a long time ago!" Naruto laughed loudly. "Just kidding, Sensei - I still respect you! Usually."

"And how many times have I told you not to call me Sensei anymore?"

A sudden streak of lightning followed almost immediately by a clap of thunder startled everyone around the fire. Yasu, who had been staring with rapt attention at the crackles and sparks of the fire, burst out in tears and started wailing from his seat between Sakura and Naruto. In less than a second, Sakura had the little boy in her arms and an open palm was rubbing circles against his back soothingly. Hardly noticed by even her, she was also making soft calming noises, telling him everything would be all right.

For Kakashi, he was again amazed at how natural she made all of this seem. Perhaps it really did come to women better than men, but he wasn't going to tell her that; the thought alone probably put him in danger of being punched through the nearest tree.

Yet she really was good at it and most girls dreamed of being mothers, didn't they? Or was he being too stereotypical again? Surely she wanted children and she'd be so good with them. Kakashi smiled softly at just the thought. After all, she already looked after the three of her teammates regularly and children would be easy compared to all of them, especially Naruto.

* * *

A loud clap of thunder woke Sakura from her sound sleep. This evening, the thunder and lightning had really bothered Yasu and he hadn't wanted to fall asleep. It had probably been because he had slept for a good portion of the day. Reaching the ends of her nerves, she had resorted to asking Sasuke, who wasn't due on watch until early morning, to use the Sharingan on the boy. In a matter of seconds, the child was asleep and Sakura herself was ready to nod off.

Luckily the loud sound that woke her didn't disturb the sleeping Yasu. She was eternally grateful the boy seemed able to sleep through the night, once he finally fell asleep that is. She settled back down and snuggled into her blanket, turning over onto her other side.

Then she saw it. Even in the darkness of the tent, she saw it.

Damn that stupid man! Sitting up, she found Sasuke's pack without any sign of a cloak but Kakashi's pack a short distance away had a neatly folded, thick woolen cloak sitting nicely on top of it. With a grumble, she strapped up her sandals and shin-guards and donned her own cloak. She was going to wring his scrawny neck for making her get up out of a nice warm sleeping bag to make him wear his cloak!

Throwing open the flap of their shelter, she stopped long enough to locate Sasuke who was sitting motionless on a large nearby rock. _He_ was even wearing his cloak. Without her even needing to come over and ask where Kakashi was, Sasuke raised an arm and pointed the direction of her quarry. With a nod of her head, she stormed off in the direction he'd pointed, Kakashi's cloak bundled up in her arms.

Sasuke shook his head in pity.

When Sakura landed on the branch next to Kakashi, he didn't even acknowledge her presence this time.

"Aren't you afraid you'll get struck by lightning?" Sakura asked with a sigh, looking over at the man leaning against the tree trunk.

"I thought you'd heard the story about me cutting a bolt of lightning in two with my Raikiri."

"Do you really want to use up all your chakra on pointless things?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Pointless things such as saving my own life?" Kakashi's eyes were still focused on the sky. The rain that was beating down was lessened slightly by the proximity of the branch above him, but he was still thoroughly wet.

"Wouldn't have to save your life if you'd just go inside the tent in the first place." She grumbled, her gaze turning to the sky, trying once again to see what fascinated him so much.

"Ah, but I'm not going to do that, now am I?"

"No," Sakura said with another sigh of resignation. "Of course not. That would be too easy, wouldn't it?"

"Absolutely… I might be convinced to wear my cloak… given the right incentive."

"Oh?" Sakura could feel her heart rate increase as her mind started to imagine the possible things he could want of her this time. She wasn't sure if she wanted it to be another kiss on the cheek or something more. Of course, something completely vulgar would land him in a three-foot crater at the base of the tree they were standing in.

He finally turned to look at her, the first time since she had jumped up next to him. Both eyes were visible and open wide, any sign of his usual laziness gone while he had watched the skies and now he was watching her with an interest that sent fire burning though her veins.

"Kakashi?" She asked when he didn't speak.

"Hmm…" he couldn't help but stare at her. Even in the near darkness, she was beautiful. She had her hood up and a few pink tendrils of loose hair framed her face. Her big green eyes were wide and questioning and her lips looked incredibly lush and soft. What would a kiss on the lips be like from her? And he meant real skin contact, not on his mask like last night.

Those lips turned downward and her eyebrows came together. Her lips moved and he completely missed what she said.

"Kakashi!" She was starting to get a bit annoyed. Why the hell was he just looking at her like that? If she didn't know better…

No he couldn't ask for that. He knew better than to try something like that.

"How about another kiss?" He asked, once again pointing to his cloth covered cheek. He had suddenly started the conversation again where he'd left off, not even acknowledging she'd been calling his name for the last minute.

Sakura sighed. She also had the oddest feeling of disappointment, something she tried to brush away quickly so she wouldn't have to acknowledge it. Sakura had a bad feeling where this was going and it while she didn't want to think about it yet, there was this niggling thought in the back of her mind, telling her nothing good could come of developing a crush on her former teacher.

"Cloak first." She demanded, forcing it into his arms. Even in the quick flash of lightning, she could see his rueful smile as he threw the cloak over his shoulders and drew it tight around his neck.

"Hood, too." She said.

"You do realize I'm already completely soaked. Putting the hood up won't do much if my hair is already wet."

"I don't care. Put the hood up."

He obediently put the hood up before leaning down closer to her. "Well, I did as you asked. Where's my kiss?"

Sakura smiled at him and leaned forward. She only meant to give him a quick peck on the cheek, but at the last second as she put more weight on her front foot, she slipped and skidded into him, her arms grabbing at his and her lips falling on the corner of his mouth.

For a moment they stood together, her clinging to him and him supporting most of their weight. Neither drew back from the kiss nor did she try to pull away from the rest of his body. Then he turned his head to the side, repositioning her kiss away from his lips; only then did she move away.

"Ah, sorry, Kakashi. I didn't mean to slip like that." she said with a rueful smile, one of her hands reaching out to straighten his cloak. "I can be so clumsy sometimes, can't I?"

He could hear the nervousness in her voice and he decided the best course of action would be to turn and ignore it had even happened. Turning his head back to the sky, he spoke softly. "Good night, Sakrua. I'll wear my cloak the rest of the night for you."

Noticing him turning away from her, she was almost ready to jump down and return to the nice and warm dryness of their shelter when she halted. "Just for tonight? No promises for tomorrow?"

"Nope, just for tonight. You'll have to come up with a more suitable bribe for tomorrow night."

She could see just the hint of smile under his mask before she leapt down and started back toward their campground. What the hell could she come up with for tomorrow night? Well, at least she had twenty-four hours to figure it out.

TBC…

* * *

_I want to apologize for how long people had to wait for this chapter. One of my reviewers, Amrun, left me a review for chapter 3 with some very constructive criticism that made me question where this story was going. Ch. 1 started as a oneshot which I had written a few years back but as I worked on it, it had developed a whole storyline that I really liked and just couldn't shake. In hindsight, writing a oneshot where Sakura asks Kakashi to wear his cloak and an incentive kiss turns into sex would have been rather fun (and you may see something along those lines later, now that I've thought about it) but I kinda fell in love with the idea of expanding that oneshot into a several day trip across THUNDER, etc._

_But back to my point. Amrun asked some tough questions and I've spend the past few weeks thinking about them. Specifically, what prompted this change between Kakashi and Sakura. The one about why I chose Sasuke as a character is just that when I first started writing this, he was just a fourth person for their team and it seemed possible he could come back, but so much has happened in the manga since then, it would be extremely hard for this to *really* happen. I just don't think I could substitute Sai for this and keep the story the way I imagine it and while he's just a minor character, he's really the only one I could use for this fic._

_Once again, back to my point - as for Kakashi and Sakura, I decided I need to figure out what event caused this change and eventually I settled on just giving them some back-story and letting us see a bit more of Kakashi's thoughts on things. And it only took 6-8 weeks for me to figure that out (and do lots of homework, deal with my family's Halloween celebrations, the obligatory thanksgiving, the usual full time job, part time job and my new foster-puppy.) I also did a little rewriting of the first four chapters._

_I want a nap._


End file.
